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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23881675">can't stop me now</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_crownless_queen/pseuds/the_crownless_queen'>the_crownless_queen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sapphic September 2019 [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Gen, Pre-Relationship, Quidditch tryouts, Sapphic September, Sapphic September 2019, they're baby lesbians and it's very cute</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 15:00:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,796</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23881675</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_crownless_queen/pseuds/the_crownless_queen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Katie falls in love, makes an enemy, and tries out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Katie Bell &amp; Angelina Johnson &amp; Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell/Alicia Spinnet</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sapphic September 2019 [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1473389</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>can't stop me now</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for Day 14 of Sapphic September: Racing.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Katie’s hands shake a little as she waits in line for the Gryffindor team Quidditch tryouts. The team’s really only looking for two Beaters and one Chaser, but Oliver Wood </span>
  <em>
    <span>had </span>
  </em>
  <span>technically put every spot back on the line, so to speak.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Every player needs to be the best we can get,” he’d said, his dark eyes lit with a fervent flame that had, to be entirely truthful, scared Katie a little.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Beaters are certainly ruthless, Katie notes as she watches their tryouts. As a prospective Chaser, she’s up soon, so right now watching the other participants is all she can do — not that there are many, or that the choice will be hard to make.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She’s pretty sure those Weasley twins have got the two spots — they’re ruthless in the air, and their coordination is much better than the old Beaters had had, and they’d been playing together for five years.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Katie can only hope she’ll manage to work as well with the other Chasers as those two can work together.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And as she’d thought, Wood orders the Beaters down, thanks them and tells the Weasley twins they’re on the team — to which they instantly gravitate toward their Seeker brother.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Bell, Spinner, you’re up — you’ll be flying with Angelina now, and if it goes well you’ll do a rotation with Maggie too.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Katie startles at her own name, and swears inwardly when she sees that the other girls are already up in the air.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Spinner shoots her a slightly condescending look as Katie flies up to them, but Angelina greets her with a large, friendly smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m Angelina.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Katie.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alicia,” Spinner replies curtly. Her hands are tightly wrapped around her broom — clearly, she’s taking this as seriously as Katie is.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oliver will test you on formation flying first,” Angelina continues. “Easy stuff, don’t worry, he doesn’t go into the detailed ones until you actually get on the team — and after that, we’ll work on adding some passes while you fly.” Angelina shrugs, and without looking away from them, smoothly bends out of the way to catch the Quaffle Wood throws up at them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her biceps bulge as she holds it up, and Katie swallows dryly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If Maggie and I both okay it, you can try your luck against Oliver.” Angelina’s grin sharpens dangerously, and her eyes laugh at them. “Don’t be discouraged if you can’t get a goal in, though.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once again, Katie swallows. Right.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She dimly hears Angelina asks if they’ve understood, and is even less sure she replies correctly, but suddenly they’re flying, and Katie’s focus sharpens on that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They fly low at first, looping around the stadium, but progressively go higher. Angelina’s leading them until she’s not, and Katie flounders for a moment, almost colliding in mid-air with a fourth-year — Smith, maybe? — boy who swears at her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Incensed, Katie swears back even as she rolls out of the way.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You okay?” Alicia shouts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m fine!” Katie shouts back, a grin tugging at her lips. Her heart pounds in her chest, and she’s never felt freer.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As they loop around the stadium one more time, Katie can’t help but admire Alicia’s flying form. She makes an impressive figure — she cuts through the air like it’s barely even there, her ponytail swinging behind her head — and Katie might be a little bit in love already.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where did Angelina go?” she asks, only to hear back a shouted, “Here!” coming up from below, followed by a dark blur she only belatedly realizes is the Quaffle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She lunges for it, her fingertips grazing against the hardened leather as it shoots past her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Katie curses and corrects her trajectory, catching it as it falls back towards her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not bad, Katie,” Angelina says as she flies back up. “Now toss it over to Alicia, and let’s see if we can do it better this time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grinning, Katie obeys. She’s trained for this, a lot, and her aim is true — Alicia catches the Quaffle easily, grinning back at her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She’s starting to turn back to Angelina, but three dark shapes are flying toward them — Smith, Maggie (the other Chaser already on the team), and a second boy, this one from her year and called Ethan.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What the —”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Angelina laughs, already flying away at speed. “I never said you wouldn’t have competition for that Quaffle, girls. Now come on, Alicia, toss it here again, and let’s see if we can’t get past the other team.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s fun. Less intense than a real Quidditch match, for sure, but much more so than any practice Katie has ever done. She’s sweating more than she’s ever had, her arms ache from catching and throwing the Quaffle even as they race around the stadium, and she’s out of breath, but she can’t stop grinning.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Even if that grin is mostly showing gritted teeth when Smith comes into play.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s not even that the boy is that good. His grip on his broom is shaky — nothing at all like Alicia’s smooth hold, or Angelina’s precise one — and he moves through the air like a bull charging at the enemy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sadly, it’s efficient. Dodging him and his attacks costs Katie precious seconds far too often, and it makes her miss throw and catches she’d otherwise get.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And his smarmy grin as he plucks the Quaffle out of the air whenever Katie drops it is infuriating.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I hate that guy,” she spits out, flying back up to her team as they give chase.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He does seem oddly focused on you,” Alicia remarks, a not of concern in her voice.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, I don’t care what he is, but he’s going down.” Katie narrows her eyes as Smith makes a poor attempt at a pass toward Ethan, who fumbles and catches it by his fingertips.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alicia laughs. “Why not? Sounds fun.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And just like that, it’s on.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Katie had thought she and Alicia worked well together before, but it’s nothing like they are now. They barely even notice as Angelina and Maggie withdraw to let the four of them compete over the ball, they’re too focused on beating Smith to the Quaffle, and keeping it away from him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Each time they intercept one of his passes, his face gets redder and more furious, and he gets meaner in his attacks. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Each time he gets one of theirs, his smile gets smarmier, to the point that even Ethan has started to edge away from him — a fact that, unluckily for the two boys, only makes it easier for Katie and Alicia to toss the Quaffle between them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And then it’s not even about Smith anymore, they’re just trying to figure out how many trick passes they can make around him — Katie hits the ball with the end of her broom; Alicia kicks it back at her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Katie tries a pass upside-down; Alicia smacks the ball in midair with her hand, holding her broom only with her knees.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And maybe that’s why they don’t see Smith coming — they forget about him, right up until he tries to fly right into Katie’s back, and toss her out of his broom.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luckily, though, Alicia sees him coming, and throws herself at Katie, who, not expecting the sudden added weight, dives well under Smith’s attack and ends up hanging from her broom by her knees and one hand, the other busy keeping hold of Alicia’s waist.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You saved me,” Katie pants, her heart going wide with adrenaline.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alicia laughs in her ears. “I think you just saved me back.” She grunts, heaving herself back to a sitting position beside Katie. “Do you think you could fly me back to my broom, though? I don’t think this is meant to hold two.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Katie lets out a snort. “Yeah, probably not.” She steadies her broom and straightens up, her eyes going wide as she now sees that Smith is surrounded by Angelina, Maggie and Oliver, the latter seemingly tearing into him at length.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She catches sight of Alicia’s broom, drifting downward not too far away, and she aims towards it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, I guess at least we won’t have to worry about Smith anymore,” Alicia says quietly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Guess, not,” Katie agrees. She can’t deny feeling a little relieved, even though she’s still angry he tried to throw her out of her broom.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Probably wouldn’t accept that a girl could fly better than he could,” Alicia tells her when Katie shares her thoughts with her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Katie’s heart skips a beat. “You think I’m a good flyer?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Katie, you caught me when I stupidly jumped at you — you’re more than good.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Katie feels her cheeks flush red, and she’s very grateful for the convenient excuse of helping Alicia get back on her broom again so she can avoid answering for a bit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well,” she says once Alicia is finally back on her own broom, “I think you’re a great flyer too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They both fly back toward Oliver, engaged in an active conversation with Angelina while Maggie escorts the two boys back to the ground.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When they reach them, Oliver grins widely at them and doesn’t even mention Smith. He tosses the Quaffle at Alicia, and nods to the goals.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re up first,” he says, already flying to take his post.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alicia sends Katie a confused look, but Katie just shakes her head back at her, urgently pressing her to follow after Oliver, even as she wills her stomach to stop twisting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She really wants that spot on the team, is the thing. She’d never really flown before Hogwarts, or thought much about Quidditch, but last year, when she’d seen her first school match, she’d known this was something she wanted to be a part of.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Finding out that the team had a free spot in the position she wanted right the first time Katie could go take the try-outs had felt a little like fate.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It feels less like it now, when Oliver seems so focused on Alicia.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know,” Angelina starts, causing Katie to startle — she hadn’t noticed the older girl flying closer, “Maggie’s in her seventh year, and she’s told us already she’d like to focus on her NEWTs more. She really only agreed to stay on the team if we couldn’t find her replacement.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Katie’s heart freezes. “What do you mean?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nothing.” Angelina grins and winks. “Just that maybe this doesn’t have to be an ‘or’ type of situation.” She sobers up. “Of course, you still have to give Oliver your best — Mags’ and I had a hard enough time convincing him we could get two new Chasers up to snuff for our first match.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you serious?” Katie asks, voice strangled as she spins around.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Angelina laughs and shoves her gently. “Sure. But first, go show Oliver what you can do — it’s your turn.”</span>
</p>
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